Product Description

Amazon.ca

A painless way of learning a few things about shapes, numbers, letters, opposites, and good manners, Best Learning Songs Video Ever is an engaging treat for young kids who love music. The story finds Huckle Cat and his buddies putting on a backyard variety show that draws the entire town as an audience. With Huck as master of ceremonies and Lowly Worm as stage manager, the children of Busy Town entertain their families and friends with tunes about the fundamentals of an education. Besides Hilda Hippo's ABC song, there's Oly Owl's melody about shapes, and Alex and Anna's song about opposites. There's much more, including a couple of golden oldies such as "If You're Happy and You Know It." A real winner. --Tom Keogh

Most helpful customer reviews

First of all, it's useful to know that there are two sets of "Richard Scarry" videos available, each produced by a different company: Cinar/Polygram/USA Films offers a video series called "The Busy World of Richard Scarry", and Sony/Random House has a set of videos named like "Richard Scarry's Best (fill in the blank) Video Ever". There are notable differences between them.The "Busy World of...." series consists of episodes from an actual television series, although I don't know what network originally carried it. It's kind of bland and generic kids TV, and it sorely lacks the Richard Scarry charm. Not recommended.Our family much prefers the "Best...Video Ever" home video series. This series features simple storylines and really sweet, catchy songs that both preschoolers and parents enjoy even after multiple viewings. "Best Learning Songs" is probably our favorite because it covers such a variety of subjects. The story is extremely simple: Huckle and friends put on a show in their backyard. Their show consists of gently educational songs about the alphabet, counting, shapes, opposites, common courtesy, etc.On the downside, the animation is pretty primitive, the image quality doesn't improve from VHS to DVD (we now own both), and the price could be better for a 30-minute program. But those charming, educational songs really carry the day, and both of our kids were completely entranced by this series of videos while they were preschoolers.

My two year old son has lots of videos and I hesitated to get a Richard Scarry video because my son seemed to prefer real life children as opposed to animation. He's not into Barney (thank goodness) and really doesn't watch any of the "educational" children's T.V. programs so I'm always trying to find videos that he can learn something from and enjoy. Well I was thrilled when we watched this video for the first time. The children's voices are very clear and they enunciate everything very well and they just couldn't be any more precious. My son loves this video and actually has tried to sing some of the songs along with the video which is great because up til now he hasn't done much talking. The songs are very cute and easy to learn and they are not annoying at all like some children's videos. They teach so many things, including ABC', counting to 10, shapes, manners, opposites. I can't say enough good things about this video. If you're looking for a video that your child will love, and learn from without even realizing it, this is the one video you must get. I wish I had gotten it sooner, instead of spending my money on other so called learning videos that my son only watches twice and then gets bored. This is a must have video!

Parents know that once you buy a video for your child, you will probbaly have to see it yourself at least 12,000 times. While Barney and the Teletubbies make me want to bury an ax in my own skull, I actually look forward to seeing this inventive, wonderful, whimsical video.The songs are first-rate, with funny, engaging words and gentle melodies. And they do actually impart educational information about, among other things, shapes, body parts, numbers, manners, and the alphabet. The art is utterly charming, and the voice actors give every character an appealing and vivid presence. There is really nothing not to like about this video. Even the length is right for a child's attention span, and for limiting daily TV time. What I like about it most of all is that, while many kids videos are overbearing and insistent, this one is low-key and laid back.We tried one of the other Richard Scarry videos (the counting one) and it was okay, but the magic of this one is unique.

Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs video brings together catchy songs, both familiar ("Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for instance) and new. Huckle and the gang are putting on a variety show for family and friends which highlights all the things they know. (This implication that a kid can be an expert on a lot of subjects is a nice confidence-booster.) The material is illustrated and sung in a very clear way. A song about shapes has the viewer identifying circles, squares and triangles in Busytown storefronts, and then those shapes are isolated and outlined so your child can see a direct correspondence between objects and geometric shapes. All the songs are done in a similarly clear manner without a lot of overload. The children's voices are robust and refreshingly non-professional. Well, I guess they must be professionals or they wouldn't be on this video--but none of them sound like they're auditioning for "Annie."

I'm a first time mom of a 15 month old but am also a child neurologist. This really is a wonderful way to occupy a young child's mind, while filling it with information that is worth learning. I was a little skeptical on buying the video, but I have to agree with others that it can really keep a young mind fascinated. My son smiles, nods his head and looks to me as if to say "this IS really neat", and claps his hands at all the right times. I like the counting and ABC videos as well, although this is really the best of the three. The characters have voices that are sweet and not grating, and I really don't mind watching this every day, a few times a day. I think the quality is just fine; not everything has to be 21st century graphics to be entertaining.